Resilient wheel.



A. C. WHIDDEN.

RESILIENT WHEEL.

APPLIGIATION FILED 001213, 1913.

Patented Sept. 22, 1914.

W $14M, G. Muiddmw IHE NORRIS PE1ER$ 50..Pumulnrlcn.wAsnlNlnuN.11.

To all whom'it may concern A srm astes; wa te. enem Beit knownth'at I,AUSTIN,

citizen of the: United States, residing Lancaster, in-the cfounty of LosAngeles and;

State :of, California,: have, invented aainewf and I useful ResilientWheel, Toff? which the following is a specification. V 1 i v.Th s.invention relates to a'wheel for automobiles, motor Ttrueks, etc.,'\'and the main' object: of the invention is to dispense'wlth the usualpneumatic tire, while providing a wheel havingsubstanti'ally theresiliency of apneumatic tire wheel.

Other objects of the invention will appear iereinafter.

ebeslim mxiimrin ti and: ref rr n theretoi m s f Figure 1 is a sideelevation of the wheel. Fig. 2 is a section on line w -m thereof. Fig. 8is a section on line E -m Fig. 2. Fig. 4: is a fragmentary sectionshowing one of the pneumatic; springf elements with its pump. 1

The wheel comprises ahub 1, an inner rim connected to said hub 2, forexample, by spokes 3, an outer rirn'e, and pneumatic're- .silient meansinterposedbetween said inner and outer rims." Theouter rim 4 is providedwith any suitable shoe or treadv member 5,

, for example, of solid rubber, and is. formed with annular sidewallsorfianges 6 adapted to embrace and slide on the inner ri'm2. In

casesaid inner rim 2 is formed of wood, it is provided withmetal bearingplates .7 for sliding engagement with the flanges Gofth e outer run. Aseries of pneumatic devices are disposed between the inner andouter.

rims, each of said devicescomprisinga pneumatic spring cyllnder 9, apump cylinder 10 communicating with sald pneumatlcsprmg cylinder 9 by apassage or pipe 11 and plun gers 12 and 13 working in the respectiveoyl' inders Qand 1O. The cylinders 9 and lOa-re secured to the innerrima2, and the plungers 12 and 13 engage at their outer ends with theinside face of the outer rim, and are preferably roundedeonvex at theirouter ends to enable themto slide more readily on such face. The pumpcylinder 10 is provided with an intake passage or port 14 having a.check'valve 1 5 normally closed by the; spring l6, an.d an outletvalve-l7 is provided in the. passage 11 normally closedbythe spring 18.Suitable means such as a spring20 is pro- Q .Ra L i NT West's; .v j iapnea-"111acease 5 .3]- we ot-reasse- 2; 1.

outermos't.,position. l

videdtjforholding thepu mp plungers was ees: -1I tee e17sm: 212 9141? aIn order.tol caiisejthe inner and' outer rims to. rotate togethenlpreferto use connections 1 showniin :F1gs.":'1"and 2,-bars 22 beingpivoted atl23 ron the outer" rim and extending inwardlypastthef'centenofthe wheel, said bars cro ssing and overlapping oneanother A and being longitudinally slotted as at24 to receive a 'pivotpin 25', which passes through the slots 2410f! all of said bars andforms a floatingvpivot for connecting of theba-rs' at the center of thewheel. 7 -Pins=27 connected tothe, hub 1, for example; by spider 28,

. c a l 1 engag'eih the respective slots24 oft'h'e sew-' "Theaccompanying drawings illustrate r H bars' 22, so as to force the saidbars and t.

thelatter is rotated or vice versa. In case,

however, there is any lateral movement of the innerv rim "and hub, theslotted arms or bars 22 will allow such movement by turning on theirpivots andby slipping on the several pins'27. Thus, infcase thehub movesdownward from the position shown in Fig.

1, the horizontally extending bar 22 will swing downwardly onits pivotand the pivot p1n'25 will, ride downwardly in the .respec tive slots24cof the other two bars22, the upper bar swinging downward and to theright, and the lower bar swinging downward and to the left in thisoperation.

s mr n to rotate i sz flithe1111b The operation of the wheel asaaresilient (I wheel is as follows: As each pump cylinder 10 is, by therevoluti n of the'wheel, brought into the lower part of the wheel, if aload is on the wheel, the plunger 13' thereof is pushed into thiscylinder 10 by engagement of said plunger with the outer rim 4, which isnearer to theinner rim at'the lower portion of the wheel than it is atthe upper portion of the wheel, owing to the load on the wheel. Thismovement of plunger 13 causes the air to be compressed in the pump cylinder, and valve 17 being opened under this pressure, a certain amount ofair ispressed into the pneumatic spring cylinder 9 communicatingwithsaid pump cylinder. The

pump cylinder 10 for each pneumatic device located somewhat in advanceof the cylinder 9 of the corresponding pneumatic device in the directionof rotation of the wheel, or said cylinders are otherwise so arrangedthat the maximum compression in each cylinder 10 is non-simultaneouswith the maximum eompresslon 1n the correspondlng cyllnder 9,

so as to permit or this pumping action. This operation'being repeated ateach revolution and taking place in" each one of the pairs of pump andspring cylindersycompressed air is accumulated in each of thepneumaticcyh inders until the resiliency of such cylinders V becomessuflicient to sustain the load. The

valvesvmay' be so proportioned that when the proper pressure 1sattained,the outlet valvev 17 fails to open on the compression StlOke,orithe inlet valve 15 fails to open on the suction stroke, so that theaccumulation of pressure is automatically limitedfizlt will "be seenthat by providing a'considerable screwplugs 32- A cover- 30 issecured onI h uter rim and extends over the bars 22,- VVhatI claim is: i.

A resilient wheel comprising :outerand inner rim members, a pluralityof'sets of together and pneumatically pneumatic devices each comprisingaipump cylinder and a spring cylinder arranged one in advancejoftheother and carried by one of said members, plungers working in saidcylinders and engaglnga the other of said members, each of 'said pumpcylinders being provided with an air inlet and a check valve in saidinlet, the pump and spring cylinders connected sconnected from the otherpneumatic" device, and a checkvvalve in "the pneumatic" connection ofthe pump andspring cylind'ersof each pneu of each pneumatic device being1 matic device to allow airto' be pumped by the pump cylinder into thecorresponding spring cylinder.

In testimony whereof,- I havehere'unto set '40 spring cylinder and to beretainedinsaid my hand at California this th day ofQctober, 1913. Y g aAUsrINo. IWHIDDENY.

In presence0f+ ELLSWORTHM, TAYLOR," H. E. GLIDD-EN.

copies of this patent may be obtaind'f orfive cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of 2atents Washington, 1). o. I

